Thursday, August 6, 2015

Summarizing Self, Peer and Teacher Assessments!

This would have been me when I was in school!! But, not because I thought the teacher said to "summer-ize" my book...it would have been because I struggled with how to summarize and would have done anything to avoid the assignment!!

I used to dread teaching summarizing to my students because I wasn't confident in summarizing myself! Then, I decided to give summarizing self, peer, and teacher assessments a try and they have worked wonders!!

Teacher Assessment

I start by using the teacher assessment. I have my guided reading group work together to create a summary of the book they read.

In this case, each student was given a chapter in the nonfiction book we read and a piece of a tree map. After each student summarized their chapter, they worked together to put the tree map together!

When the group was finished, I used my teacher assessment checklist to 'grade' them. We discussed things they did a great job including, as well as things they need to think about including next time. I usually use these teacher assessments a few times before we move on to self-assessments.

Self-Assessments

Once I feel students have a good understanding of the checklist and how to summarize, I have them self assess their summaries.

You can see where this student realized they didn't include the setting. Not only did the student not put a check next to setting, they also wrote down at the bottom that the setting was one thing they wanted to work on.

This is the same student a few weeks later! Guess what they have a check next to this time?! Yup!!! Next to summary!!! Now, if I had told this student they needed to include a summary do you think they would have remembered? Maybe. But, they definitely have a better chance of remembering when they discover it on their own!

After students feel confident with summarizing and self assessing their own work, we begin peer assessments. What I like most about these peer assessments is that they are positive! Peers are asked to write one thing they liked about their classmate's summary and one thing their classmate did that they want to do.

These checklists have really made a difference with my students when teaching summarizing. When we write a summary, we always make sure we have a checklist nearby to help remind us of what to include.